The Wind
by mypiratecat1
Summary: Dark two shot.  Jack Sparrow's madness was now legendary.... but was this really madness...or was part of it something else?  CHAPTER TWO is up, story is complete!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: No, they are not mine... oh, but if they were...

**Author's Note: **As always, William is released from his curse, with conditions, and he and Elizabeth are a part of Jack's crew aboard the Pearl. That's how it is in Pirate Cat's lovely universe.

۞

Elizabeth Swann Turner looked out over the velvety nighttime sea, as the soft salt winds off of the waters blew her golden hair back from her face. The stars were out tonight, and the moon was a fingernail sliver, skirting in and out of wispy clouds. The weather had been fair, but the mood aboard the ship upon this day had been rather quiet. Captain Jack Sparrow had experienced one of his worst days since being rescued from the Locker... and had not moved from his place clear out upon the bowsprit all day long. His lanky legs were curled around the sprit... the only appendages keeping him from falling headlong into the sea.

It was more than a bit frightening for the crew when Jack fought the shadows in his damaged mind on days such as this... he would lapse into an unusual state... eyes vague and distant.. long silences except for soft talking to himself, now and again... and the most telling sign of all when he was suffering from his bouts of mild madness was a slow weaving of his head, to and fro, to and fro... often he would stand at the railing and look out to sea, his eyes unfocused or closed completely, his hands outstretched at his sides, long, slender fingers moving ever so lightly in the wind, as if he were listening to something in the wind... the constant wind at sea.

Elizabeth and her husband, First Mate William Turner the Second, had made it one of their priorities to watch their friend very closely after joining the crew of the Pearl. They had sadly realized after his rescue from the Locker that Jack was their true friend, but the damaging cracks hammered into Jack's sanity by Davy Jones were to haunt their captain's mind forever... He had very long stretches of time when he was perfectly normal... or as normal as Jack Sparrow ever was... but it was days like this one that worried the Turners and the other crewmembers deeply...

... and as she watched Jack's back from the foredeck upon this evening, Elizabeth knew that William would soon climb out upon the bowsprit himself, and guide the captain back to safety, to rum and his own bunk... all the while, the captain would not utter a word, and Elizabeth could not help but wonder just what it was that the captain seemed to hear, upon the everpresent wind...

۞

"How is he?" Elizabeth had waited for William as he emerged from Jack's cabin... the tall, handsome young first mate had finally gotten the captain to settle into the safety of his bunk, a bottle of rum nestled into his thin elbow and a blanket pulled up over him. William smiled at his wife, as he admired her loveliness by the lanternlight. She was holding Little Will to her breast, a sight that was a common one to the other crewmembers since the littlest pirate had been born upon the Black Pearl only two months before. William sat down next to her, putting his arm around her shoulder and pulling his small family close to him. His time as captain of the Flying Dutchman, and the seperation from his loved ones made him truly appreciate his world, now... the man who was the most responsible for this world was finally snoring softly in the cabin behind them.

"He is fine... he had one bad day, like this, when he was upon the Dutchman after we found him sailing along in his little wooden dinghy... we simply have to keep an eye upon him and let him fight his way back to us when the shadows in his mind finally let go for a while..." William sighed, breathing in the scent of lavender from Elizabeth's hair... "Jack seemed to try to come around just before I finally convinced him to get some sleep. He said something rather odd, even for him..."

Elizabeth turned to her husband as she placed Little Will upon her shoulder, patting his tiny back to try to bring up a bubble. The young couple chuckled a bit as the wee baby obliged, burping ever so slightly. "I worry about Jack so much when he is like this... what did he say?"

William frowned slightly..."He said that we will make a strike tomorrow. He said that we are in a shipping lane, and that there will be a good raid in store for us... " He looked deeply into his wife's eyes, as she also frowned slightly..." ... he said that the wind told him..."

۞

With Giles Mullroy at the wheel and Mr. Cotton being assigned to take Jack's turn at midnight, the young couple sat quietly upon the main deck for while, prior to retiring for the night. Keeping watch upon their captain for the entire day had taken a toll upon all of them... Jack Sparrow was the finest captain that any of them had ever sailed with, and his crew was genuinely fond of him. Joshamee Gibbs had known him longer than anyone, and before he, himself, retired to his hammock for the night, he poured drinks for himself and the Turners in order to finally relax them all, knowing that Jack was no longer threatening to drop into watery oblivion from the bowsprit. Gibbs stretched a bit in his chair, his grizzled face finally softening from the worried lines of only a few hours ago. "... Leave it to Jack to say something as odd as he did, Will. I will always wonder what turns his mind makes when he can't shake off the shadows..."

Elizabeth was looking up at the vast and deep expanse of stars, and she leaned into William's muscled side, nestling their baby in her arms. Suddenly, she said, "Will, where did you take all of the souls who died at sea...?"

William turned his head and stared at his wife. This had never, ever been addressed since William and Elizabeth had been reunited. Gibbs' eyes grew wide as he raised his mug of rum to his lips. William thought long and hard before he answered her, and he answered her much like Jack would... "Different places."

Elizabeth continued to stare at the stars... "I wonder..." she said, softly, as her hand softly caressed the soft brown curls upon her baby's head, "... I wonder if my father knows that he has a beautiful grandson... when I was little, he would always show me the pocket watch that he carried. It was made of gold, with a face made of elephant tusk ivory... it was presented to him by the King when he was appointed to the office of Governor of Jamaica... he always had promised it to my first child... his first grandchild... I wish that I could tell him that he has a grandson... I wonder if he knows..."

As the trio sat quietly thinking this over, the captain's soft snoring could be heard through his slightly open cabin door...

۞

Jack had been right... at dawn of the following morning, a ship was spotted upon the farthest horizen ... a galleon of unknown origin to the naked eye. But the well developed pirate eyes of William Turner and Jack Sparrow knew, by one glance through a spyglass, some good honest pirating was at hand. Jack was his old self upon this morning, and was grinning widely as he handed the spyglass to Elizabeth. Peering at their quarry, her face broke into a wicked smile, as she said, with relish, "... ahhhh... a vessel of the East India Trading Company... and she is unaccompanied by a naval ship... what nerve!"

Jack chuckled softly, as William said, "... it seems that she is heading east... toward England, no doubt, filled with a hold of the spoils of the Caribbean. Hmmmm," he grinned at Jack, who regarded him with a sidelong look, his eyes sparkling. William tapped his light blue bandana as if he were thinking, and smiled, "I wonder if she is carrying any _good_ Caribbean rum?"

"Among other things, mate..." Jack replied, his mouth nearly watering at the thought of the wondrous things that might be contained in the distant hold, "... I think that we should see about putting yet another little dent in th' East India Trading Company's profit ledger, eh?"

And as she thought bitterly about her father's murder, Elizabeth Swann Turner said, softly, "The East India Trading Company is responsible for nearly ruining all of our lives, starting with yours, Jack..." she slipped an arm around the captain's back, running a hand over his shoulder blades that bore the deep scars of an EITC flogging.

With a hard edge to her voice, and a hard glint in her eyes, she murmured, "I shall never see the colours of the East India Trading Company that I will not see my father's blood, as well as our own... my father was denied his right of seeing his beautiful grandson..."

Turning to look at both of the proud faces regarding her as she spoke, the former captain of the Empress almost spat our her words, "Let's take them."

_To be concluded with chapter 2..._

۞


	2. Chapter 2

The take had been an easy one... the ship that was christened The Conqueror was instead the vanquished, as the Black Pearl easily overtook her and set her crew adrift in the ship's own longboats, without much ado. The many ships of the EITC had heard the unbelievable stories of the events at World's End, and the terror that a pirate ship with black sails struck into the heart of any sailor who crewed an EITC ship was deep.

The Conqueror was a smaller ship, and slower, and she never even opened her gun ports toward the pirate ship that had so boldly blocked her path, with 18 of her 36 cannons pointing straight at her. She was boarded without a struggle... indeed, the pirate captain, who was actually shorter and slighter of build than anyone expected him to be, loudly complained that this raid was no fun at all... he had then decided to put the crew off, plunder the ship thoroughly, and then to send her to the depths, just for entertainment purposes.

It was then that the chubby and absolutely livid captain of the merchant vessel voiced his own loud complaint, with some ungentlemanly epithets launched at the dark skinned pirate captain, who only grinned back at him in a very cheeky and annoying manner. His complaints were silenced by a very strong, but surprisingly feminine arm locking him in a chokehold from behind, and a very businesslike dagger being pointed at his right eye. The first mate of the Black Pearl smiled at the angry and unladylike assailant... who tightened her grip.

As the crew filed into the longboats under the watchful eyes and taunts of what the EITC considered filthy riffraff, one brave man attempted to pull his cutlass prior to surrendering his weapon, only to be met by two flashing blades pulled from their scabbards in exact unison and pointed straight at his heart... and the low voice of the young first mate, saying, "Make it easy on yourself, mate... " The cutlass was dropped to the deck with a clatter, as he had never seen a captain and first mate who were so uncannily able to predict each other's movements.

The longboats were lowered to set the cowering crew adrift. "You scoundrel, Jack Sparrow! How dare you!" the captain of the Conqueror was indignant, as he stood up in the rocking longboat and shook his fist vehemently at the slender figure who was now grinning impudently at him from the railing of the Pearl. The pirate captain's tall, muscular first mate teased him by shaking a fist back at him.

"Oh, shut it, ye bloody git... you're in a shipping lane... you'll be found within a couple o' days. At least you have a longboat... for a while, I only had a leaky dinghy until me first mate found me...did I remember t' tell ye that William Turner the Second, here, was th' captain o' th' Flyin' Dutchman at th' time?" Jack casually leaned an arm on William's shoulder... the younger man was enjoying this immensely.

"... An' meself! I was in Davy Jones' Locker, 'til me mates pulled me an' me Pearl back t' th' land o' th' living, or sea o' th' living, as it were! You've been plundered by two _dead _men, mates..."

William always enjoyed the reaction that fetched, and he nodded grimly toward the now trembling EITC crew.

Turning to say something to William, Jack suddenly turned back to the chubby captain, who was still sputtering, and said, archly, one finger raised as punctuation,"...oh, and that's 'You scoundrel, _CAPTAIN_ Jack Sparrow... why is that so bloody hard t' remember?" he growled.

"Because they're fools," William muttered in reply.

۞

Once the Conqueror was scuttled and her crew left bobbling in the longboats with a few days' rations and some water, Jack, Elizabeth and William inspected the plunder that, by now, had been lowered in nets down into the hold. There was not much treasure of monetary value, but there was a great deal of "treasure" of another kind... barrels of food and medical supplies, gunpowder, guns, plenty of jerked beef , along with hardtack, salt pork, "good" Caribbean rum, as William had hoped, and some barrels and crates with unknown contents. Jack had ordered these mysterious objects brought on board, hoping that there might be something of value that could be traded for profit in the more illicit parts of the Caribbean.

As Elizabeth brought Little Will down into the hold in his basket, William and Jack were deciding what should be opened first. "Wot say you, Izzy?" Jack shrugged, as he swiveled his trinketed head around to her. Putting the basket with the gurgling baby down, she looked about. She always had to fight back a great deal of anger as they plundered ships of the East India Trading Company, and it brought her grim pleasure to view the spoils of a raid. Today, however, she felt quite strange about it... like as if it was not a raid of the usual kind of treasure that a pirate would seek.

Walking around the numerous crates, she ran her hand over each one, as William and Jack watched her, now with a great deal of curiosity. Stopping at one large box, she quietly said, "This one..." Looking at each other, William and Jack wondered about the look in Elizabeth's eyes...

They approached the crate with prybars... and were immediately aware of a very strange feeling... the wind was picking up above decks, and it seemed to hum against the hull. Jack turned his head slightly, as William suddenly looked concerned. Even Little Will was quiet.

"Jack...?" Elizabeth looked at the captain, who was standing stock still, prybar at the ready, but not moving. His dark eyes looked upward to the sky through the opening of the hold, and he said nothing... he only nodded. William put down his prybar and immediately took Jack by the shoulders, "Mate?"

Shaking his head a little as if to clear it, Jack's eyebrows shot up and he twitched his mustache, slightly. "Aye?"

Relieved, William picked up his prybar, watching Jack out of the corner of his eye, and as Jack helped him, and as Elizabeth stood by, they pulled the lid from the crate and peered inside...

Their mouths dropped open slightly, as Elizabeth's hand covered her mouth... inside the barrel, were personal effects that had obviously been in storage for quite some time...

There were several reams of legal documents, an ornate brass desk set with a crystal inkwell and matching candlesticks for a mantel, several framed documents and commendations, and several very elaborote writing quills. One object suddenly made their very hearts leap into their throats.

They all solemnly looked at each other... William reached into the barrel and carefully pulled out a long fireplace poker... a poker with an iron brand upon the end. As Jack Sparrow's eyes widened, he involuntarily took a step back and put his hand over the stark white "P" that had been burned deeply into the flesh of his arm to the point that it had nearly crippled his right hand.

And as Elizabeth Swann Turner's face twisted with rage and grief, her trembling hand pulled an object out of a box of sealing wax that had tumbled over, as if it had been carelessly tossed into the crate ...

As William's face looked on in astonishment, Jack's eyes went closed halfway, and became strangely distant. Gripped in Elizabeth's shaking hand was a gold watch, with an elephant tusk ivory face, engraved upon the back with the words, "In Honour of the Appointment of Weatherby Swann to the High Office of Governor of Jamaica"... with the engraved seal of the King of England. A small bit of icy victory for a murderer now long dead at the hands and the cannons of the trio standing together in the hold of the Black Pearl... a watch that was no doubt brought back to him by his henchmen as some proof that the governor was no more.

"Salvaged from th' wreckage, no doubt..." Jack muttered, "... an' cleaned out from an office in Port Royal..."

As William Turner pulled his weeping wife into his arms, the gold watch in her hand, he whispered through clenched teeth, "Cutler Beckett... you cold, cold bastard..."

۞

Night fell, and William finally was able to convince his grieving wife to come out onto the deck for some fresh air. Little Will had been put to bed, lulled to sleep by the ticking of the beautiful gold watch that was laying in his cradle...ticking that was like the soothing heartbeat of a doting grandfather.

Clutching a handkerchief, and wrapped in her husband's arms, Elizabeth finally swallowed hard as she and William sat down in the pool of golden lamplight with their captain, who did not have his boots propped up on the railing as he would do, customarily. He was simply sitting at the table with a mug of rum in his hands, his dark eyes fixed out over the railing, watching the dark sea as it rolled and pitched... there was a storm somewhere. The branding iron was nowhere in sight...

As the young couple sat down, he glanced their way, and smiled a little. "So Little Whelpie has the gold watch that is his birthright?" Elizabeth nodded wordlessly, as William stroked her cheek, softly.

Looking over at the captain, William said, "I made another discovery in another crate, Jack... we managed to bring aboard some fine wine... the captain of the Conqueror had expensive taste..." Jack gave his first mate a lopsided grin, and replied, "Well, wot's stoppin' ye, mate? Bring forth a bottle of said 'fine wine', savvy?" Smiling sadly at Elizabeth, the captain said, "... Let's drink t' th' memory of Governor Swann..."

"Will you be alright for a moment, my love?" William asked, comfortingly, as Elizabeth smiled up at him and nodded. She already was feeling better with the bracing and salty wind in her face... the constant wind..."I will be quick, then...," and William disappeared into the hold, momentarily.

As she looked back at Jack, she saw that his gaze had returned to the darkness across the sea, his bronzed gypsy face reflecting the moonlight off of the rolling waves. Finally summoning enough courage to approach the captain with a question, she said, "Jack... what did you do with the branding iron?"

Silently, the captain reached into his pocket and pulled out the end of the iron... the letter "P"... he idly placed it over the burn upon his upper wrist. It fit perfectly, balanced upon the raised, angry scar... a scar that still pained him from time to time if his arm was stretched the wrong way.

Elizabeth shuddered deeply as he merely stared at it with half closed eyes... Those brown eyes misted over a bit, then turned to gaze back over the waves. "I'm going to add it to me bandana, I think... next to the Kraken tooth.."

Finding herself dabbing at her eyes with her handkerchief, Elizabeth reached over and removed the iron from Jack's arm, gently placing it back into his slender hand and then closing it, patting his hand as she did so, "... And raiding the Conqueror was not done by chance today, was it, Jack?"

Jack got up from his chair, his eyes never leaving the sea. With his back to Elizabeth, the enigmatic reply in the captain's soft, rum husky voice was, "... no, darling, it wasn't chance... your father knows about 'is beautiful grandson... one just really needs t' listen to th' wind, sometimes..."

The captain's slender fingers moved ever so slightly, "... your father knows... an' he loves you..."

Just then, amazingly, a warm and comforting Caribbean wind blew across the main deck... and the lantern's flame lightly flickered in the wind...

...the wind... the constant wind at sea, that only one man, in his endearing bouts of madness, could completely listen to with more clarity than anyone else... perhaps it was madness... or perhaps it was simply that the wind at sea, itself, chose very, very carefully who it would reveal its secrets to...

Sometimes, the wind might think, madmen were better listeners than those whose minds were addled with reason...

THE END


End file.
